Strategic Conflict Assessment Nigeria
13 Sep 2003
IPCR
The study has focused sharply on the interaction between resource competition and the corruption of the political system. Out of the forty two years since Independence, Nigeria has experienced thirty years of military dictatorship and during this period political and social values have been deeply undermined. Since 1999 Nigeria has turned towards democracy but this does not mean that conflicts will dissolve or be resolved instantly. Instead the immediate effect of democracy, as the Phase Two report concludes, has been to generate more conflict- ‘Three years into democratic practice the intense competition for political space has heated up the polity leading to violence, which has continued to threaten the survival of the democratic process.’